Departure Tax
 

I apologise if this doesn't appear in the right forum and would appreciate it if someone could direct me to the correct area should this be the case.

I am looking at using some of my points for a RTW trip later this year. As this will involve me booking through the airline directly I am unsure as to what departure taxes I will be up for. Is there a site where I can look these amounts up?. Thanks.

Perhaps this will help you:

http://www.cathaypacific.com/intl/ai...de/0,,,00.html

thank you for the Cathay link...

Also, Indonesia, Taiwan, New Zealand(as well as Cooks Islands), and Australia require a tax on departure. Mexico did, not sure if they still do!? Not usually cheap, either, so keep that in mind. Sometimes, you have to pay in local currency, which is a pain...
Good luck with the RTW...

I've had a few surprises when departing. I now always ask when arriving what the departure tax will be. It's almost always in local currency!!!

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At 6'6" -'coach' is a dirty word!

Some of the Latin American countries are bad, as places like Brazil and Chile seem to be in a tit-for-tat reciprocity battle with the U.S., charging U.S. citizens what the U.S. charges their people because they think (with some justification) that our taxes are out of line. Most south and southeast Asian countries are still reasonable ($10-20). It'smore convenient to have the tax included than to pay in local currency at the airport, but I think people notice it more when they have to shell it out in cash and hopefully this provides added discipline against increases.

Be sure you get your money's worth out of the RTW. I once flew to Singapore and back (open jaw to Columbo) at 80K over the Atlantic. I asked about coming back over the Pacific (it's shorter, after all), but was told that'd qualify as an RTW and cost 130K miles. So I must've gone 2/3 of the way around the world in both directions to SAVE miles. Go figure.

I recently flew CX on free tix in F through HKG with an overnight there. When I checked in the next day in HKG, the agent told me that my wife and I had to pay a total of sixteen hundred $HKG (~200 $US) in departure taxes. When they told me this, I wasn't too happy and let them know. Luckily, it turned out to be a language problem. The agent meant one-hundred sixty, not sixteen hundred.

I've never paid a departure tax at an airport in Mexico-- most necessary taxes, plus the fee for a tourist visa, are rolled into the ticket price.

The departure tax at Kansai intertional airport in Osaka, Japan, will be ticket-inclusive as of April 1, 2002.

I read in a paper HKG is considering adding a security surcharge in addition to the exisisting airport tax.

Mexico has had a US$20 tax ("XD") for years and has recently started a US$20 ("UK") tax, both of which are paid at ticket issuance & both of which also apply to free awards.

Now in Canada, Airport Improvement Fees are multiplying like rabbits. YVR, YUL: PAID AT AIRPORT in CAD or USD cash at proper ex. rate. AIF vending machines accept credit cards. YYC, YYJ (Victoria, BC): Included in ticket. YEG: How paid??

It's been a while, but I once had to pay the "departure" tax when transiting YVR. It was a BOS-YVR-CLM itinerary, IIRC.

It had to be paid in Canadian dollars, and it had to be paid in cash. (At least that was what the rather bossy airport representative told me).

A few years ago, I was surprised during check in at Penang to show that I had paid the departure tax, since taxes at all other airports during my trip had been included in the ticket price.

So I asked where to pay that, and was then told that since it was Sunday, the departure tax counter was closed! So I asked, then what should I do? They ended up just letting me go.

I paid a departure tax of $17 US or 6000 Colones in Costa Rica a few weeks ago. It wasn't rolled into the ticket price; you have to fork over the cash.

If this is true, then it appears that it's the US that's bad, not the Latin American countries!!!

The same reciprocity is often found in visa fees, length-of-stay, etc.

What's the deal with YUL? I flew through there last month connecting USAirwas - Air Canada each way. On the way into Canada (and onward to YHZ) I was stopped before security and had absolutely no idea what was going on. The guy just asked if I had flown within 24 hours, which I thought was strange, and I told him yes and he looked at my boarding passes and let me through. (I did not realize until much later, on my way home that this was the AIF checkpoint).

On the way out I was just stopped by a rude lady and asked for the AIF receipt. Again I had no idea what was going on and paid the $15 CDN ($10 USD, I think they accepted either) and did it.

I did not make the connection to the incident on the way in and the AIF thing until I was on the flight later that day. So, it seems to me that I either should have not had to pay on the way out (since I flew within 24 hours YHZ-YUL) or I should of had to pay on the way in ...